“If you had asked me while I was at Rhodes College [in 1969] what I was going to do with my life,” Bob Towery says, “I would’ve told you that I’m gonna race automobiles and then I’m gonna write about it.” Well, he’s raced cars, earned a fourth-degree black belt in taekwondo, founded Memphis magazine, established Towery Publishing, sailed in two hurricanes, and at long last, he’s written his first novel — though there’s not a lot of race car driving in it, just a former NASCAR driver-turned-crooked sheriff.
The novel, titled Magnolia Song: A Saga of the New South, chronicles the stories of two Memphis families intertwining from 1915 through 2018, and it has marijuana, reptiles, incest, murder, lots of absurdity, dozens of illustrations, over 150 characters, and 530 pages.
“I hope that it conveys, as much as anything else, a joy of living,” says Towery. “One of the main things I wanted to do is just make people laugh. When you start trying to make people laugh, sometimes it just turns dark, but laughing is one of the great tonics in life. It should be pursued at all levels.”
Towery began writing the book in 2016 but made substantial headway after Covid struck. “I took a long time to get around to writing a book, but I had great fun writing this thing,” he says. “It all came out of my fevered brain. What I was trying to capture is the kind of social change that took place between then and today, which encompasses the greatest social change in human history.”
Already, Towery is working on the sequel: Black Widow’s Waltz, scheduled for release in fall of 2023. This novel will begin in 1775, which was how the author planned to open Magnolia Song before realizing how long his novel was shaping up to be. “It’s very long,” he says. “I’m kind of a long-winded sort.”
But don’t mistake the Dickensian length as unapproachable. “My favorite book of all time is War and Peace,” Towery says. “I’ve read it five times, kind of once every generation since I was an adult. I think it’s a magnificent book, and unfortunately people think of it as this unapproachable tome. And it really isn’t. It’s a wonderful galloping story.”
And that’s the kind of story Towery aims to tell. “I hope that the book is an anthem to our community,” he says. “I’d say that if there is a main character, it’s probably Memphis.”
Towery will read from Magnolia Song and sign copies at Burke’s Book Store on Thursday, November 17th. The reading will begin at 6 p.m.
Magnolia Song is available for purchase at Burke’s, Novel, and btowery.com, where you can also find cheat sheets for characters and a timeline for when you’re reading.
Reading and Book Signing with Bob Towery, Burke’s Book Store, Thursday, November 17, 5:30-6:30 p.m.